The jury system has *not* been abolished. Several things to bear inmind...first, even now, choice can dictate a jury vs. judge trial (it is oftenin the plaintiff's court, so to speak, to choose which one is preferred incivil trials). Second, if you look back at the history of the US, even injury trial days, you had Circuit Court Judges who traveled through ruralareas, frontier and unconsolidated regions, and held court by themselves.

Babylon 5 is a unique environment. There are only two basic types ofpeople (speaking only of humans for now) around: those employed by EA or thestation (conflict of interest), or travelers, who won't be around long enoughfor a prolonged trial. So in that kind of situation, the Ombuds arose...a2258 version of a Circuit Court Judge.